Issues with 4K movies on a 1080p TV set - Blu-ray Forum

Hobbit1979 · 12-19-2021, 09:45 PM

I recently bought a 4k blu-ray player (LG UBK80) although I don't own a 4K TV yet. I just watched my first 4K disc on my 1080p TV. I knew the picture quality would not be the same so i was just waiting to find out what kind of problems I would face.

I watched The Fellowship of the Ring. I wanted to buy the remastered 1080p blu-ray but I could not find it where I live so I bought just the 4K edition.

Overall the picture quality was great. Huge differrence from the old blu-rays. But I did find one issue and I just wanted to ask how common it is when watching a 4k disc on a 1080p tv.

Color banding seems to be the big thing. I don't have any screenshots so i'm just going to mention some scenes where the problem was a little too obvious.

The worst was at the end when Sam tried to catch Frodo on the boat. When he went underwater the image was kind of bad. I happened on a couple more scenes but not as bad as this one, in Bilbo's house when Gandalf raised his voice and the room went dark for a while and for a brief moment at the battle with Sauron in the beginning.

Is this something common? Am I going to see this often in scene like that, underwater, foggy scenes that are more difficult? Is there a way to fix it or cover it somehow? At least until a buy a 4K TV (not anytime soon unfortunately)

David M · 12-19-2021, 10:08 PM

It depends on the player. The LG UBK90 has banding issues even when connected directly to an HDR display (except on Dolby Vision movies), so the UBK80 is likely the same. That doesn't bode well for its HDR->SDR conversion being clean.

halloween5309 · 12-19-2021, 10:47 PM

make sure the resulution on the player is set to 1080p or auto, i have the ubk80 and it skips/freezes on at least a dozen of my uhd discs

Hobbit1979 · 12-19-2021, 11:06 PM

So far i've watched at least 10 regular blu-ray movies and only 1 4K disc.

The first movie I saw, the picture froze almost at the beginning (5-6 minutes in). I ejected the disc, put it back on and since then no more issues like that. I don't know if the resolution setting changed when I ejected the disc (it's on auto right now, I didn't saw it before).

No color banding issues in any of the regular blu-ray movies (at least not noticeable) and I did watch some with difficult scenes, some underwater and foggy scenes (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for example had no issues).

*edit post: I forgot the mention, I played the same scenes from Fellowship of the Ring from the old regular blu-ray disc. No color banding issues there.

rubystone356 · 12-19-2021, 11:41 PM

I had issues with an lg player. I got a panasonic and dont have that issue anymore

Jacob

CanadianEH · 03-22-2022, 10:23 PM

Similar to the OP, I’m thinking about using a 4K player on a 1080p TV. I have a 4k player hooked up to a 50” 4K TV (bedroom) and it never gets used. I was thinking about moving the 4K player to my 65” 1080p TV (living room). I have been buying all 4K Blu Rays recently so I’m ready for when I do upgrade my living room TV. Will I notice a difference playing 4K Blu Rays on my 1080p TV or should I just leave it as is?

chip75 · 03-22-2022, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianEH

Similar to the OP, I’m thinking about using a 4K player on a 1080p TV. I have a 4k player hooked up to a 50” 4K TV (bedroom) and it never gets used. I was thinking about moving the 4K player to my 65” 1080p TV (living room). I have been buying all 4K Blu Rays recently so I’m ready for when I do upgrade my living room TV. Will I notice a difference playing 4K Blu Rays on my 1080p TV or should I just leave it as is?

It will depend on how your player converts HDR into SDR. If that isn't an issue you'll see the benefits of masters not released on Blu-ray. Plus you might get ATMOS if you're capable as some BDs drop it.

As you've already got the equipment, I'd certainly try it out, but if you're planning on buying a 4K TV soon, you might want to save some of your new discs.

CanadianEH · 03-22-2022, 10:54 PM

Thanks Chip. I will try it out. My 75” TV and Atmos capable receiver fund got cleaned out to help a family member, but my 4K Blu Ray collection keeps growing. I’m watching The Thing right now on Blu Ray and it looks amazing. I’ll try the 4K after.

chip75 · 03-23-2022, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianEH

Thanks Chip. I will try it out. My 75” TV and Atmos capable receiver fund got cleaned out to help a family member, but my 4K Blu Ray collection keeps growing. I’m watching The Thing right now on Blu Ray and it looks amazing. I’ll try the 4K after.

Hopefully that fund gets replenished quickly after doing such a nice thing for a family member.

CanadianEH · 03-23-2022, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chip75

Hopefully that fund gets replenished quickly after doing such a nice thing for a family member.

Thanks again Chip. Little comments like that remind me that I did the right thing.

And, as a reminder to what I am working towards, I did find some 6.5” KEF ceiling speakers today for 70% off. I just couldn’t say no.

NDcowboy · 03-23-2022, 07:34 AM

Go OLED or go BIG (projector). Just my 2 cents.

Naiera · 03-23-2022, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chip75

It will depend on how your player converts HDR into SDR.

Besides Panasonic, do any players do that well? I know that Sony's SDR conversion sucks hard.

MisterXDTV · 03-23-2022, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naiera

Besides Panasonic, do any players do that well? I know that Sony's SDR conversion sucks hard.

no, It's basically Panasonic or MadVR on PC if you can...

I have both Panasonic 420 and Sony X700 and Pana is WAY Better with HDR->SDR conversion

Naiera · 03-23-2022, 03:23 PM

Lumagen Radiance Pro?

So Oppo's isn't any good, either? I've read it isn't, but HDR to SDR conversion isn't something people talk about a lot, for obvious reasons.

MisterXDTV · 03-23-2022, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naiera

Lumagen Radiance Pro?

So Oppo's isn't any good, either? I've read it isn't, but HDR to SDR conversion isn't something people talk about a lot, for obvious reasons.

Oppo is way out of budget for me so I wouldn't know

Oppo is making phones now, they left the business for good

Naiera · 03-23-2022, 04:45 PM

I know. If you have $2000 there’s always pre-owned

I had a Sony X800m2 and the SDR conversion was so bad it was useless.

MisterXDTV · 03-23-2022, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naiera

I know. If you have $2000 there’s always pre-owned

I had a Sony X800m2 and the SDR conversion was so bad it was useless.

Just buy a Panasonic 420 and save a lot of money...

steel_breeze · 03-23-2022, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naiera

So Oppo's isn't any good, either? I've read it isn't, but HDR to SDR conversion isn't something people talk about a lot, for obvious reasons.

Personally, I love the Oppo's HDR-to-SDR conversion, though I've heard it's not in the same league with the Panny. I'm still down-converting all 48 of my UHD titles to a 1080p SDR projector with my Oppo 203, and I'm over-the-moon happy with the results. Of course it's a very "high maintenance" enterprise: I have different nit, "Oppo mode", and projector gamma settings for each and every UHD. Literally no two are the same -- except, I think, Prince of Darkness and They Live, in which case I'm also off-setting the color space issues of those releases.

Only VERY occasionally do I encounter a problematic title that the Oppo 203 HDR-to-SDR can't tame. I had to return Field of Dreams 'cuz the shadows looked weirdly posterized and fell off a cliff into complete blackness; and I still own the UHDs of Force Awakens and Rogue One but usually choose the Blu-rays of those two, 'cuz the highlights are simply un-tame-able. But the rest are miles above their Blu-ray counterparts, once I get 'em dialed in.

Naiera · 03-23-2022, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

Just buy a Panasonic 420 and save a lot of money...

I bought a used 824 in December.

12-19-2021, 09:45 PM	#1
Hobbit1979 Junior Member Member since:Dec 2015 4K collection:63 Blu-ray collection:563 DVD collection:113 Blu-ray reviews:3	Issues with 4K movies on a 1080p TV set I recently bought a 4k blu-ray player (LG UBK80) although I don't own a 4K TV yet. I just watched my first 4K disc on my 1080p TV. I knew the picture quality would not be the same so i was just waiting to find out what kind of problems I would face. I watched The Fellowship of the Ring. I wanted to buy the remastered 1080p blu-ray but I could not find it where I live so I bought just the 4K edition. Overall the picture quality was great. Huge differrence from the old blu-rays. But I did find one issue and I just wanted to ask how common it is when watching a 4k disc on a 1080p tv. Color banding seems to be the big thing. I don't have any screenshots so i'm just going to mention some scenes where the problem was a little too obvious. The worst was at the end when Sam tried to catch Frodo on the boat. When he went underwater the image was kind of bad. I happened on a couple more scenes but not as bad as this one, in Bilbo's house when Gandalf raised his voice and the room went dark for a while and for a brief moment at the battle with Sauron in the beginning. Is this something common? Am I going to see this often in scene like that, underwater, foggy scenes that are more difficult? Is there a way to fix it or cover it somehow? At least until a buy a 4K TV (not anytime soon unfortunately)

12-19-2021, 11:06 PM	#4
Hobbit1979 Junior Member Member since:Dec 2015 4K collection:63 Blu-ray collection:563 DVD collection:113 Blu-ray reviews:3	So far i've watched at least 10 regular blu-ray movies and only 1 4K disc. The first movie I saw, the picture froze almost at the beginning (5-6 minutes in). I ejected the disc, put it back on and since then no more issues like that. I don't know if the resolution setting changed when I ejected the disc (it's on auto right now, I didn't saw it before). No color banding issues in any of the regular blu-ray movies (at least not noticeable) and I did watch some with difficult scenes, some underwater and foggy scenes (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for example had no issues). edit post: I forgot the mention, I played the same scenes from Fellowship of the Ring from the old regular blu-ray disc. No color banding issues there. Last edited by Hobbit1979; 12-19-2021 at 11:35 PM.*

12-19-2021, 10:08 PM	#2
David M Power Member Member since:Aug 2007 Blu-ray reviews: 1 Trading Score:1	It depends on the player. The LG UBK90 has banding issues even when connected directly to an HDR display (except on Dolby Vision movies), so the UBK80 is likely the same. That doesn't bode well for its HDR->SDR conversion being clean.

12-19-2021, 10:47 PM	#3
halloween5309 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2012	make sure the resulution on the player is set to 1080p or auto, i have the ubk80 and it skips/freezes on at least a dozen of my uhd discs

12-19-2021, 11:41 PM	#5
rubystone356 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Home Theater Gallery:1 4K collection:98 Blu-ray collection:1243 DVD collection:284 Digital collection:690 iTunes collection:19	I had issues with an lg player. I got a panasonic and dont have that issue anymore Jacob

03-22-2022, 10:23 PM	#6
CanadianEH Active Member Member since:Jan 2013 Blu-ray collection:947 DVD collection:16 Trading Score:311	Similar to the OP, I’m thinking about using a 4K player on a 1080p TV. I have a 4k player hooked up to a 50” 4K TV (bedroom) and it never gets used. I was thinking about moving the 4K player to my 65” 1080p TV (living room). I have been buying all 4K Blu Rays recently so I’m ready for when I do upgrade my living room TV. Will I notice a difference playing 4K Blu Rays on my 1080p TV or should I just leave it as is?

03-22-2022, 10:54 PM	#8
CanadianEH Active Member Member since:Jan 2013 Blu-ray collection:947 DVD collection:16 Trading Score:311	Thanks Chip. I will try it out. My 75” TV and Atmos capable receiver fund got cleaned out to help a family member, but my 4K Blu Ray collection keeps growing. I’m watching The Thing right now on Blu Ray and it looks amazing. I’ll try the 4K after.

03-23-2022, 07:34 AM	#11
NDcowboy Active Member Member since:Nov 2014 4K collection:11 Blu-ray collection:517 Blu-ray reviews:4	Go OLED or go BIG (projector). Just my 2 cents.

03-23-2022, 03:23 PM	#14
Naiera Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Jun 2012 Location:Denmark Home Theater Gallery:2 Trading Score:25	Lumagen Radiance Pro? So Oppo's isn't any good, either? I've read it isn't, but HDR to SDR conversion isn't something people talk about a lot, for obvious reasons.

03-23-2022, 04:45 PM	#16
Naiera Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Jun 2012 Location:Denmark Home Theater Gallery:2 Trading Score:25	I know. If you have $2000 there’s always pre-owned I had a Sony X800m2 and the SDR conversion was so bad it was useless.

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